Welcome to Our May Newsletter
My final essays about God’s Spiritual Creations —ANGELS
The Origin of Satan and his Demons
The triune God created everything in our universe and beyond. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Thus, the heavens and the Earth were completed in all their vast array.” Genesis 1:2
God created myriads of angels to help and serve him in his heavenly work. He bestowed his angels with personality and emotions, giving them character, intelligence, and will. Exodus 20, Job 38, Luke 2-13-14, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 14, 2 Timothy 2:26.
Lucifer, An Angel of the Lord, shone so brightly and was so beautiful God gave him the honor of serving as cherubim, protecting God’s throne. Lucifer decided he wanted to be God and control the universe. He convinced as many as one-third of the millions of spiritual angels created by God to become corrupt angels full of hate. The Bible refers to Lucifer and the other rebellious angels as Satan and his demons. These angels became an army rebelling against God,
“And there was war in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in Heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the Earth and his angels with him.”Revelation 12:7-16
On the 6th day of creation, God made man and woman in his image. God planted a garden and gave man dominion over all other creatures on Earth. God walked with Adam and Eve and spoke with them as friends. God presented one command; “You are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.” Genesis 2:16-18
Satan knew the command God had given Adam, the first created man. Satan had been thrown to Earth after the war in Heaven, so he and his demons decided to tempt Adam and Eve. Satan chose to appear to the woman as a serpent who may have walked on legs like a sea monster of myth. Satan used cunning to talk the woman into eating the fruit of the tree and sharing her fruit with her husband, who also ate. Seraphim angels guarded the Tree of Life so Adam and Eve could not eat and live forever in sin. The man and the woman hid from and lied to the Lord. God sent them away from the garden. Genesis 3:1-24
Satan won his first battle on Earth with God’s human creation. Wars, pestilence, greed, pride, murder, theft, and immorality became a way of life in the Old Testament until God decided to drown the Earth in flood and saved only Noah and his family. Satan seemed to have won the war on Earth, but God had other plans, including the birth, death, and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.
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I’m on my way to Alaska with ten family members and will write about that trip in June and July.
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We’ve had five issues so far in 2023. I’ve researched and written about Angels as well as the holidays of each month.
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May Tidbits
May is named for the Roman goddess Maia who oversaw the growth of plants.
May 1: May Day, Lei Day in Hawaii
May 5: Cinco de Mayo
May 14: Mother’s Day
May 20: Armed Forces Day
May 29: Memorial Day
May Tidbits
Buy your lady an Emerald ring, bracelet, or necklace to celebrate the May gem.
My May Personal Experience
The Healing of an Angry Spirit
Satan is alive and well on this earth and can cause even those who love the Lord to fall into a state of depression and unhappiness. This is a true story of how the Lord expelled an angry spirit who controlled my life.
A dark cloud hangs over my head. Every day the cloud grows grayer until its blackness penetrates my soul. The cloud hovers with the sweet smell of promises. “If you give in to this temptation, everything will be better,” the cloud says.
The cloud cackles like witches gathering around a cauldron brewing magic— or poison. With every temptation, another lie is told, and soon I fall into a pit. I look above to see the sun/son, but slowly the opening closes until darkness overcomes me.
I have a vivid imagination and have been known to feel and see angels, especially in dreams. But the frightening apparitions I now see seem natural, like I can touch and hear them. A dwarf-humped figure like Quasimodo with orange wavy, curly hair snickers and tells me tantalizing lies. The doctor says I am hallucinating or making up stories. But I know there is a war happening in my head.
After many weeks of fighting with myself and everyone else, I decide to go to a psychologist. I speak openly about my circumstances, spew anger at my situation, and tell her I hear voices telling me to do awful things.
She gives me a pill!
One afternoon, returning home from work, I see the packed parking lot beside my church. “What’s going on?” I ask myself. “Should I stop?”
As if someone were sitting in the passenger seat beside me, a voice says: “It’s nothing. It is not Sunday—just a workday. Go home. You’re tired.”
I pull into the lot. Carol and Jim meet me at the chapel door.
“Peggy, I’m so glad you came. We have a guest speaker and a healer today,” Carol says while escorting me to a pew.
I sit and listen to most of the talk from the Healer. Then the man asks anyone who wants healing to line up at the altar. Jim stands at the end of the line. Carol whispers, “Wouldn’t you like to go up with the others? You may be healed of whatever brought you here.”
I hesitate but leave the pew and stand in line. When my turn comes, I face the Healer, who puts his hands over my head and speaks a few words in his prayer language that sounds like gibberish. In English, he says, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask for healing.”
A hush of air blows me back. I fall into Jim’s hands. Jim lowers me to the floor, where I shake as if having a seizure. Someone yells. “It’s the devil!”
I think, “Where?”
When my shaking stops, Jim helps me up, and Carol escorts me back to my place in the pew. “What was that all about?” I think.
People walk to the altar, where the Healer’s hand moves over their heads. He mumbles a few nonintelligent words. No one falls or shakes. “Why did I?”
“Please escort the lady who fell to the altar before we dismiss,” The Healer says.
“Oh dear, he means me.” Jim takes my hand and walks me to the altar as the people in the nave remain quiet.
The Healer looks over the congregation, then directly at me standing before him. “The Lord has done a marvelous thing for you today,” he says. “A spirit of anger prevented you from having a happy life. That spirit has been expelled. This leaves a void within you, and that void must be filled. May I invite the Lord to fill it?”
“Sure, why not?” I think and nod.
Again, he puts his hand over my head, but this time he touches me. “Father,” he says aloud. “Bring peace to this woman. Fill her with your love and grace. Grant her the happiness and love only you can give. In Jesus’ name, we pray.”
All my senses open as peace fills me; I feel like floating in the air. Listening to the congregation sing sounds as if angels fill the room. Jim and Carol escort me back to my pew, where people touch me, smile, and cry.
On the way home, in my car, I sing, How great thou art.
Never again have I allowed the spirit of anger to take such hold of me. Whenever I become angry, I say a little prayer, “Father, take my irritation and upset out into space where it cannot harm and let it float away forever.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean I never get mad. After all, I’m only human.
May Flowers
Lilly-of-the-Valley
May Day Poles
May 1: Europeans and Americans celebrate May Day with flower crowns, maypole dancing, and by making flower baskets to share with loved ones. Neighborhoods may erect a May pole in the town square with colored ribbons. People grab hold of one ribbon and dance around the pole weaving in and out to create a colorful pole glad in ribbon. This tradition originated in Germany.
May Day Baskets
In rural areas neighbors make May Baskets fill them with flowers or small candies and gifts, then hang the basket on a neighbor’s doorknob, ring the bell and dash away. The neighbor chases the giver and steals a kiss.
May 1 Hawaii Lei Day
Lei Day is a statewide celebration in Hawaii. The celebration begins in the morning of May 1st every year and continues into the next day. Lei Day was established as a holiday in 1929. Each Hawaiian island has a different type of lei for the people to wear during the celebration.
It is unknown when the tradition of giving lei began. It was believed to be a custom with the original Hawaiians who presented lei of nuts, seeds, shells, leaves, and flowers as offerings to the gods. In 1927, writer Don Blanding realized that the act of giving a lei was being embraced all over the world.
He encouraged the local newspaper to urge their readers to give and wear a lei on May 1st to honor the Hawaiian culture and rejoice in being so fortunate to live in paradise. The idea was so popular and well received that it officially became known as Lei Day in 1929 and a celebration was held in downtown Honolulu.
Over the next few years, the celebration outgrew its original location in downtown Honolulu and moved to Queen Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. Today thousands of people still gather at Queen Kapiolani Park for hula exhibitions, lei exhibits and sharing of the Hawaiian culture.
May 5: Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5 which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico’s victory over the second French empire at the battle of Puebla in 1862 led by general Ignacio Zaragoza. The victory over the French army was a morale boost for the Mexicans.
Mother’s Day
May 14, 2023: Mother’s Day
- Anna Jarvis presented the first Mother’s Day in the United States to honor her mother in 1908. The day quickly caught on and in May 1914 U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.
- 22 million phone calls are made on Mother’s Day.
- Americans will spend $31 Billion dollars for Mother’s Day.
- The carnation is the official Mother’s Day flower.
- 152 million Mother’s Day cards are sent
May 20, 2023: National Armed Services Day
On August 3, 1949, Louis Johnson, the U.S. Secretary of Defense announced the creation of Armed Forces Day to replace separate army, navy, and air force days. The event stemmed from the armed forces’ unification under one department—the Department of Defense.
The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated on Saturday May 20, 1950. The theme for that day was “Teamed for Defense.” Armed Forces Day is a day for the military to show “state of the art” equipment to Americans. It is also a day to horror and acknowledge American men and women in the armed forces. Parades, open houses, receptions, and air shows are held to commemorate Armed Forces Day.
May 29, 2023: Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. Military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. It originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. It also marks the beginning of the summer season. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.
This poem came to me as I drove to visit my mother on Mother’s Day 2013. Thankfully, I was able to read it to her before she died two days later. Don’t wait to tell your mother, you love her.
Mother’s Day 2013
My mother was Mommy once,
When I was a little girl,
She smiled sometimes and frowned sometimes,
Mostly she cared.
Mommy dressed me in warm clothes, fed me good food,
She hugged me and sang happy songs,
Then Mommy became Mom.
Mom had beautiful auburn hair, her petite figure was thin
And her face was always clear.
She taught me to be a lady.
She insisted on proper behavior,
Showed me how to do chores, but never allowed me in the kitchen.
She protected me with rules and consequences.
Then she became Mother.
Mother’s hair turned silver, her figure became mid-aged
And her smile a little crooked.
The white wedding gown she made for me of silk and lace
Highlighted the talent that I’d never appreciated,
Mother’s original art oils, and her painted ceramics
Showed her unique creative side.
As Mother aged, her independence waned.
Although she never lost her spirit,
The body slowed, fell, and crumpled.
When I visit mom now,
Her gorgeous green eyes ask for help,
So I hug her and sing happy songs, As I say:
“Mommy, I love you.”